Citi PremierMiles Visa increases sign up offer to 40,000 Citi Miles

Since August 2018, Citibank has been running a 30,000 Citi Miles sign up offer on the Citi PremierMiles Visa for new-to-bank customers who spend S$7,500 in the first 3 months and pay the first year’s annual fee.

From now till 31 Jan 2020, Citi is upsizing the offer to 40,000 Citi Miles, broken down as follows:

Sign up for the Citi PremierMiles Visa here

The T&C of this offer can be found here. 

Citi PremierMiles Visa Basics

To recap: the Citi PremierMiles Visa earns 1.2 mpd on local spend (1.5 mpd if you spend at least S$3,000 in a statement month, until 31 Dec 19) and 2.0 mpd on overseas spend. You can also book hotels and earn up to 7 mpd on Agoda and 10 mpd on Kaligo. Citibank awards points on every dollar of spending, and the minimum spend to earn points is S$1.

Paying the $192.60 annual fee will get you 10,000 Citi Miles each year, and Citi Miles never expire. Citi Miles can be converted into 11 different frequent flyer programs at a 1:1 ratio (see below). 

How the sign up bonus works

To unlock the sign up bonus, you’ll need to spend S$9,000 within 3 months* and pay the first year’s S$192.60 annual fee. You’ll receive 10,000 Citi Miles in the first statement for paying the annual fee, and the 13,500 bonus Citi Miles within two months of meeting the qualifying spend. 

The following charges will not count towards the S$9,000 qualifying spend:

Other payments like insurance, education or government services will count towards the S$9,000 threshold, but will not earn any base points. 

Citibank has confirmed that spending on Citi PayAll will count towards the S$9,000 spending requirement, which is good news for those with rent, education expenses, taxes or condo fees to pay. Assuming you spend at least S$3,000 per statement month, you could buy miles as low as 1.33 cents each, among the lowest cost in the market. 

	Cost per mile @ 1.2 mpd	Cost per mile @ 1.5 mpd
	1.67	1.33
Based on 2% admin fee, certain Citi customers may be targeted for lower rates

Enjoy 2X complimentary lounge visits a year

The Citi PremierMiles Visa comes with a Priority Pass membership that provides two complimentary visits per calendar year. Note that this is slightly different from most other credit cards on the market, which award their free visits per membership year.

In other words, Citi PremierMiles Visa cardholders enjoy two free visits from 1 Jan 2019 to 31 December 2019, and a further two free visits from 1 Jan 2020 to 31 December 2020- so applying towards the end of the year allows you to enjoy up to four visits in quick succession.

Get covered with complimentary travel insurance

Most credit cards in Singapore provide complimentary travel insurance when you purchase air tickets. But not all travel insurance is equal, and as I noted here, the Citi PremierMiles Visa provides more comprehensive coverage than many other cards in the market.

From the table above, you can see how the coverage provided by the Citi PremierMiles Visa is significantly better than other cards at the S$30,000 income threshold, comparable even to some cards at the S$120-150,000 mark. More importantly, you also get coverage if you redeem an award ticket, so long as you pay for the taxes and fees with your Citi PremierMiles Visa.

This is not always a given with other cards, as their T&C may require that you charge the full fare to the card to activate coverage. 

Transfer your Citi Miles to 12 different partners

Citi PremierMiles Visa cardholders get access to 11 different frequent flyer programs and one hotel partner, the widest selection of any bank in Singapore.

	Transfer Ratio
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer	1:1
Asia Miles	1:1
British Airways Executive Club	1:1
Etihad Guest	1:1
EVA Air Infinity Mileagelands	1:1
Flying Blue	1:1
IHG Rewards Club	1:1
Malaysia Airlines Enrich	1:1
Qantas Frequent Flyer	1:1
Qatar Airways Privilege Club	1:1
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus	1:1
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles	1:1

A $25 conversion fee applies for every transfer, and do note that Thank You points earned on the Citi Prestige/Citi Rewards cards do not pool with Citi Miles, so you’ll have to redeem them separately.

The flexibility of Citi Miles means they’re a great way to enjoy sweet spots in programs like Etihad Guest, British Airways Avios and Turkish Miles&Smiles.

For example, you could redeem a Singapore to Europe round-trip Business Class flight for just 90,000 miles with Miles&Smiles. That’s half the price that Singapore Airlines charges, which means you could fly two people with Miles&Smiles for the cost of flying one with KrisFlyer. 

Redemption ideas for 40,000 miles

So what fun things can you do with a 40,000 miles sign up offer? Here’s some potential routings:

Transfer to…	And redeem…
	2x round-trip Economy Class tickets to Bangkok
	2x round-trip Business Class tickets to Koh Samui on Bangkok Airways 1x one-way Business Class ticket to Seoul on Asiana Up to 8x Economy Class flights within Europe on Air Serbia Up to 13x Economy Class flights within South America on GOL
	2x round-trip Economy Class (or 1x round-trip Business Class) tickets to Bali 1x one-way Business Class ticket to Shanghai, Beijing, Mumbai or the Maldives

By saving up a little more, you could even redeem a round-trip Economy Class ticket to Tokyo on JAL through British Airways Avios (41,500 miles), or a pair of round-trip Business Class tickets to Colombo on Sri Lankan Airlines through Etihad Guest (56,000 miles). 

Conclusion

The Citi PremierMiles Visa is a solid general spending card to have in your wallet- in fact, it’s one of the options in my Miles Game Starter Pack for anyone just getting into the miles and points game. 

If you know you’ll be spending more than S$3,000 in a statement month, then it also offers one of the highest local earning rates in the market at 1.5 mpd. Citi’s extensive list of transfer partners make Citi Miles more valuable than your average bank rewards points, and Citi Miles don’t expire. 

The 40,000 Citi Miles sign up offer ends on 31 Jan 2020, so be sure to apply in time:

Sign up for the Citi PremierMiles Visa here